The abandoned high school stood a few stories tall, just past the thick wall of bramble and trees, its red brick faded and broken. The mold and vines lurching up its facade in an attempt to reclaim what the earth had lost. The front doors were boarded. A thick chain wrapped around the handles, with bars bolted over every window on every level to keep kids out, or something else in.
But, Matt and Cindy, knew a secret. Someone in their social circle had cut through one of the bars into the basement, just enough for an average human body to fit through.
"Matt, wait for me," Cindy said as he walked towards a doorway once he slipped inside.
"I'm right here." Matt snapped. "And keep it down, your gonna get us caught."
"Ugh. There's nobody around for miles. I think its safe." She said lowering herself into the room.
"Yeah, what do you know." Matt said, shining his bright light into her eyes.
"You're such a dick."
Matt threw his head back and let out a wolf howl and started chuckling as it echoed.
Cindy rolled her eyes before scanning the room for herself. The basement walls were covered in patches of black mold and graffiti; the smell of sewage and feces filled what was left. A metallic taste reached the back of her throat.
"I change my mind, I don't want to be here," Cindy said, covering her nose and mouth with her hand. Matt's leather jacket weighing heavy upon her shoulders.
"Stop being such a girl. You're the one who wanted to come check it out." Matt said, not turning around to look at her.
They made their way through a doorway, where a stairwell sat directly to their right. Pieces of the iron railing had eroded, leaving only jagged rusted spikes. The drop ceiling above them long since deteriorated, with wires dangling like fingers.
"It's cold in here," Cindy said, staying on Matt's heels as they climbed the stairs. Creaks and moans letting out under every step. The sound of something falling over echoed through the corridor in front of them.
"Whatever happened in this place anyway?" She asked, shining her light in the direction of the sound.
"The teachers all went crazy and started murdering the children. Some weird ritualistic cult or something."
"That's just a local legend, Matt."
"Don't believe me - check the library. My father was a student here the day it went down."
"Oh really, and what guardian angel kept him from becoming a victim?"
Matt stopped and spun around, his eyes flashing a look of anger as he placed the flashlight to his face. "Are you sure you can handle the gruesome details?"
Cindy straightened her shoulders and set her jaw.
"He... woke up with a fever," Matt started pretending to cry. " His mother kept him home that day."
"Oh, damn you," Cindy said, slapping him on the arm.
Matt laughed before spinning back around.
"Yup, my father and a few others were spared because of a stomach bug going around. Matt said. "How come you don't know about this? Didn't your parents go here?"
Cindy sighed. "For the umpteenth time, we moved here when I was three."
"Oh, right. Well, lucky you, then."
Cindy wanted to slap him in the back of the head and gripped her nails into her palm to keep from doing so. They moved down the long narrow hall of beaten, faded lockers and broken glass, more graffiti covered the peeling wall paint, a few weathered papers, the ink still slightly visible scattered about.
